The invention relates to a self-propelled agricultural harvesting such as a forage harvester configured with a front harvesting attachment for picking up crop from a field and a working mechanism for processing and/or conveying the crop.
Self-propelled harvesting machines such as forage harvesters in particular are usually used during the harvesting period on a large number of fields for reasons of economic efficiency. The drivers must therefore drive several times with the machine from one worked field to the next in order to start a new harvesting operation there.
The driver must always remain particularly attentive during the so-called “initial cutting” of a field, i.e., the first harvesting travel across the grown plant crop of a field. The driver must observe whether obstructions of any type (stones, demarcation devices, inclines, uneven terrain and, possibly living creatures) are located on the still barely visible path that could result in damage to the front harvesting attachment. In addition, the driver also must observe and monitor the transfer procedure. In a forage harvester, this includes visually monitoring the discharge of crop via a transfer device (also referred to as: “upper discharge chute”) to an accompanying hauling vehicle, including a dynamic, fine-tuned adjustment of the transfer device to ensure that the crop stream hits the hauling vehicle and prevent crop losses. Since the transfer procedure in the initial cutting operation usually takes place in the rearward direction, for reasons of space, the driver must therefore look toward the front (harvesting operation) and toward the back (transfer procedure).
Due to the special harvesting conditions that exist during the initial cutting of the field (i.e., transfer toward the rear, poor visibility of the path, first start-up of the harvesting machine on a new field), the driver usually must set various parameters of the harvesting machine differently than for the (subsequent) harvesting operation on the initially-cut field. In order to perform initial cutting, therefore, automated functions such as cruise control or automated transfer are deactivated and/or other settings are selected for the cutting height or the engine speed. Since harvesting is usually performed under time pressure and, the driver must coordinate or at least remain aware of his own machine as well as the operation of the accompanying hauling vehicles, adjusting the harvesting machine for the initial cutting of the field is laborious and prone is to error. If the driver forgets to implement an important setting, then crop losses, quality losses, or even damage due to accidents can easily occur. For these reasons, in the initial cutting of the field, the harvesting machine is usually driven with great care and only under partial load.